Rule The World
by shadowswan
Summary: "For one hour, they sat, nine teenagers again. So much had changed, they realised, as they looked at each other with nostalgic smiles, but it didn't matter so much. They were all here, cheering on a student football match at their old school, and they hadn't been this happy in years." Ensemble one-shot. #4YearsOfSibuna!


_Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, places etc. related to House of Anubis. Song lyrics are not mine.  
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><p><span>Rule The World<span>

_'cause for a moment a band of thieves in ripped up jeans got to rule the world_

"Someone's going to see us," Eddie mumbled against Patricia's lips, her hands slipping under his sports jersey and up his chest.

"Don't care," she replied shortly, her eyes flashing open to wink at him then closing again when Eddie pushed her up against the side.

As Patricia sighed, Eddie wrestled between his desire to let his hands get lost in her hair or ripping the jacket she was wearing, the jacket that belonged to him, straight off.

"Dad, we need- oh god, oh, oh my eyes. What the hell are you two doing?"

Eddie and Patricia sprung apart, looking at their traumatised son with wide eyes and guilty expressions. They could hear the low chatter of a growing crowd behind them, but they'd been so sure they wouldn't be found here.

"What did you need?" Eddie asked in a strangled voice, trying to act normal again as he smoothed his shirt down.

"Probably ten years of therapy," Hugh replied, rubbing his eyes frantically. "Thank you, so much, for that, it'll definitely help me win the game."

"No worries," Eddie grinned, shaking off the last of his own embarrassment in his glee at being able to humiliate his son. "Can't help it when your mom's so-"

"Stop, right there, please, oh god," Hugh groaned, walking away. "Don't talk about mom like that, please. Just, just be on the field soon."

With that, Hugh rounded the side of the bleachers and Eddie paused, turning back to Patricia. Though her cheeks were flushed, she looked like she was going to laugh at any moment.

"Think he'll really need therapy after that, yacker?" Eddie asked, pausing to let his wife catch up then slinging an arm around her, feeling unsatisfied after the sudden pause in their kiss.

"Absolutely," Patricia chuckled. "Maybe just five years though."

"I'm going to need this back," Eddie said, tugging on the sleeve of the jacket Patricia was wearing.

"But I like belonging to 'Coach'," Patricia teased, taking it off and handing it back to him.

They turned the corner, stepping back into the sunlight but still hidden from view, and the scores of people gathered. Though the pitch and bleachers were a modest size, they still looked impressive when packed with the families of the players.

"It's time to teach these kids real football," Eddie had told his father a few years ago in the office he'd stood in so many times before.

And now here they were, a few years later, hosting the final of the national league at their little old school. Of course, it had been a few years more since Eddie had stood in that office as a student himself, over twenty by now. He'd travelled the world with Patricia for five years, and then they'd ended up here anyway, married with two kids.

Twins, because of course it would run in the family. Any child with the genes of Eddie and Patricia Miller would be mischievous enough, and they'd had to deal with two at the same time because life worked like that. Eric had nearly collapsed the day they'd both enrolled at the school where their father and grandfather worked.

"Is everyone here?" Patricia asked, hugging Eddie's arm. She liked pretending they were teenagers again, sneaking around and in love, even if it was only for a moment, and even if those moments were interrupted by their teenage son.

"It looks like it," Eddie nodded, waving to Fabian and Joy in the stands right on cue.

They waved back eagerly, Fabian seemingly all set with his enormous tub of popcorn, equally excessively sized fizzy drink, and old baseball cap firmly on his head. Eddie hadn't the heart to tell him that the school's mascot had changed a while ago now, figuring Fabian wasn't exactly going to have masses of sports stash at home from his own school days. Nor could Eddie bring himself to tell his best friend that the cap looked ridiculous.

To her credit, Joy did look mildly uncomfortable at being seen with him, though after decades of being together, she was pretty much used to his antics.

With a final wave, Eddie and Patricia stepped on to the field properly, turning their attention to the team as Joy and Fabian searched for their godson and daughter amongst the players warming up.

"Okay, I'll see you later, weasel," Patricia said, kissing him on the cheek. "Good luck."

"Thanks," Eddie said, his face growing five shades paler.

"Wish Hugh and Liss good luck as well," she added, before heading into the stands to meet the rest of the crew.

Eddie took a deep breath, then headed for the bench, barking at his team to join him for a final pep talk. The game would be getting underway in less than ten minutes, and every one of his players looked terrified.

"Now, listen up..."

Patricia watched them huddle up anxiously, tripping over other people as she focused more on what was happening with Eddie than on where she was going. Eventually she found her way over to Joy and Fabian, who had been joined by Jerome, Mara and Amber.

"Amber Millington, at a football match?" Patricia gasped loudly, feigning amazement.

"Look!" Jerome shouted suddenly from behind them, pointing to something in the distance. "It's a pig, flying. Incredible."

"Hilarious," Amber replied in a faint Australian twang, rolling her eyes at him as Patricia took a seat in front of her.

"To be fair, we were all quite surprised when you said you were coming," Joy said, twisting in the plastic chair to look at their blonde friend. Her hair was much shorter but still the bright blonde they all knew and loved.

"I didn't have much of a choice," she said, pointing over to where Mick was high-fiving every member of the home team out on the pitch. "The moment he realised it worked out with holidays, he was booking the tickets. We've travelled across the world to see a school sports match, I just-"

Amber trailed off, speechless at her husband's actions as the others laughed.

"Look how happy they are though," Mara said, pointing out the awed expressions on the students' faces. "Penny looks like she's going to explode."

"So does Lissie," Patricia smiled, finding her daughter's grinning face in the huddle.

"Eugene looks less interested," Fabian commented.

"You know, he'll kill you if he hears you use his proper name," Patricia tutted at Fabian as Joy whacked his arm. "And don't be fooled, he told Eddie this morning that if he didn't get an autograph, he'd leave the team for the final term."

"It's a strong team," Jerome chipped in. "He's actually trained them up pretty decently, they might actually be some competition."

"High praise indeed," Mara laughed, nudging him.

"Mum, when's Penny playing?" Summer asked, tearing her eyes away from her phone for a moment to glance at her parents.

"I think they're starting soon," Mara answered, swiping her daughter's phone from her. "And your sister will flip if she finds out you were texting when you were meant to be watching her."

Summer protested but a look from Jerome quietened her down to a simple huff, and she showed her outrage by folding her arms and glaring at the football pitch with a disgruntled look on her face.

Patricia, Fabian and Joy turned away, stifling smiles.

"Don't worry, I've had my phone confiscated too," a teenage boy consoled Summer, seemingly appearing from nowhere and plonking himself down on the seat next to her.

Summer didn't seem to notice anything about the boy aside from his charming smile, but five pairs of eyes swept over the boy's impeccable appearance then turned to Amber, who was smirking.

"Amber, it's a school football game, not a magazine shoot!" Fabian cried.

"I tell her this all the time," Mick assured his old friend, taking his place next to his wife. "She never listens."

"Jasper, like me, appreciates how far maintaining a good appearance at all times can get you."

"So why did you lose your phone?" Summer was quizzing Jasper.

"Mum found out some of her models from work gave me their number," Jasper replied.

"Gets you a little too far it sounds like," laughed Joy, turning to Amber who shook her head, while Jerome gave Mick a subtle fist pump.

"Oh, they're starting!" Mara said, and the group cheered as Mr Sweet's voice sounded through his megaphone.

"When exactly is Sweetie planning on retiring?" Jerome muttered. "He's been here forever."

"In a few years actually," Patricia told him, not taking her eyes off the team. "But that's a top family secret so-"

"Oh, what's a secret, I love secrets!"

In a flurry of feathers and braids and denim and squeals, Willow crashed into the chair on the other side of Patricia, only staying upright with the aid of Alfie.

"Alfie!" Amber grinned, reaching over to give him a hug. "Was starting to think you wouldn't make it."

"And miss Olive's star turn?" Willow exclaimed dramatically, hand on her heart. "Never."

"Star turn?" Mara and Joy asked in unison, laughing at each other before turning to face their old housemate.

"She made it up to second reserve," Alfie said with a thumbs up from behind Willow, who was beaming.

"Isn't it wonderful?" Willow said, as Alfie shook his head at her, exchanging a glance with Jerome.

Like her father, Olive was a jack of all trades, master of none, though she had a growing affinity for practising magic much to Alfie's delight, and she wasn't half bad at it. In Willow's eyes though, she could do no wrong; she cheered her daughter on at every match, every contest, every competition.

The gang turned to look at each other with hidden grins, then faced the game, ready for it to begin.

The real star of the show was Hugh, which was why Eddie could be found bursting with pride at any given moment. Lissie's favourite thing to do was distract her twin while he was strutting around the field during quiet moments, chest puffed out just like his father's. Gladly accompanying her in this pursuit was Penelope, best friend and partner in crime.

And then the game was away, and the next hour was strange but wonderful.

Since school had ended, this was about the first time they'd all seen each other again together, the only missing faces KT's and Nina's, both back in America. It had been over two decades since they'd graduated, and even though they'd all changed dramatically, for sixty minutes, they were all seventeen again.

Tired eyes became bright again, grey hairs and mortgages forgotten as the group cheered as one every time the school scored, cried out in rage every time the opposition claimed points.

No longer were their sons and daughters on the pitch, but instead they were.

Mick was scoring the winning goal as Mara clapped excitedly at the edge of the pitch, shivering in the rain at midnight but grinning through it all. Alfie had Amber slung across his shoulder and was running through the football game the boys were having at lunchtime, getting yelled at while Amber screamed the entire time. Jerome was laughing uncontrollably as Joy gasped, pink lemonade in her hair, across her face, dripping down her shirt as the football from evening practice landed straight in the middle of their picnic. Willow was shielding the hedgehogs from the stampeding feet of the students in their warmup, Fabian was hiding with Nina in the bushes to avoid the class, KT was hiding behind a tree nearby, and Eddie was scoring that winning goal, floodlights blinding him to the entire world except Patricia.

For one hour, they sat, nine teenagers again. So much had changed, they realised, as they looked at each other with nostalgic smiles, but it didn't matter so much. At the time, breakups had been messy, makeups had been messier, every mile had seemed so long, every hour at work one too many, but they'd made it.

They were all here, cheering on a student football match at their old school, and they hadn't been this happy in years.

And as Hugh scored that winning goal as the horn sounded, Eddie looked for his wife again, sending her that same wink he always did.

Even an hour after the match had ended, the pitch was still teeming with people, streamers and balloons littering the grass underfoot.

"Eugene!" Fabian cried as the man of the hour approached his godfather.

"How many times?" the boy groaned as he was pulled into a bear hug by the man. "I don't like being called-"

"And Phyllis!" Fabian continued, shoving Hugh onto Joy as his goddaughter followed her brother.

"It's Lissie, Fabian," she laughed, giving him a hug. "And you know this cap looks ridiculous."

She stole it off his head and placed it on her own as she went to give Joy a hug and kiss. Eddie smiled to himself as Fabian stood there, blinking.

"You've trained them well," Mick nodded, wandering over to where Eddie and Patricia were stood and shaking his hand. "They're a solid team."

"Thanks," nodded Eddie, taking another look at the scene surrounding him. "They did pretty good."

"Pretty good?" scoffed Penny, twisting round from the animated conversation her parents were having with Willow and Alfie. "We crushed them, boss."

"I never had you down as the teacher type," Amber said to Eddie, her face somewhere between curiosity and confusion. "You seem to be pretty good at it though."

"Learned from the best," Eddie grinned, glancing at where his father was proudly telling the school governors that his son was coach, and yes that was his grandson who had scored that goal today, yes quite right.

Patricia smiled up at him, following her husband's eyeline to the scenes in front of her.

Mara was physically leaning away from Willow's violent hand gestures, telling some story or another while Jerome and Alfie took the opportunity to catch up on all they'd missed since last seeing each other two weeks ago.

Olive had escaped her parents and was chatting to Lissie and Penny, while the less fortunate Hugh was still standing patiently with his godparents, nodding along to whatever Fabian was saying while Joy shot him the odd look of sympathy.

Eddie and Mick were swapping training and playing techniques while Amber went searching for Jasper, who had wasted no time in swapping numbers with Summer after their phones had been returned to them.

As the sun began to set, people began to move off the pitch and towards their cars.

"So, who's up for a drink?" Eddie called out, met with a resounding chorus of cheers.

Slowly they began to make their way off the field too, not really noticing that the teenagers had snuck off somewhere until Summer asked Mara where Penelope had disappeared to.

Glancing around the area, Fabian suddenly pointed silently to a familiar tree.

There, huddled nearly out of sight, stood Lissie, Hugh, Penny, Olive and a couple of other students, probably the children of their fellow classmates. Stunned, they watched as the kids swiftly raised their right hands to cover their right eyes, muttering an incomprehensible word, the same furtive looks on their faces that they knew all too well.

"Didn't see that coming," Fabian said quietly as the adults exchanged surprised looks, looks that soon turned to grins. "Do you think they're having fun?"

"Are you kidding?" Amber laughed. "They're having the time of their life."

"Should we be worried?" Joy asked.

"Absolutely," Eddie nodded, a proud expression on his face.

"I'm sorry, what?" Mick piped up.

They laughed all the way to the front of the school, kids melting into the group thinking their parents were none the wiser. Agreements were made as to which pub they were meeting at, and then the families split up briefly to make their way there.

Hugh and Lissie climbed in with their godparents, Fabian opening the door for his fiancé as the twins whistled at him. Summer insisted on going with Mara and Jerome so she could sit with Jasper, which immediately meant Penny hopped in alongside Olive, Willow and Alfie.

Eddie and Patricia hung back for a moment, watching the cars disappear one by one down the long and winding road that had first brought them here so many years ago.

"Never imagined us here, yacker," he said, looking up at the school fondly, the towers of Anubis just about visible in the ever darkening sky.

"Never imagined all of them," she corrected him. "Always imagined us."

Eddie looked down at her, shaking his head then handing her back his jacket.

"That was one of the soppiest things you've ever said," he informed her.

"And this is one of the soppiest things you've ever done," she shot back, shrugging her shoulders in the newly re-acquired jacket.

"Do you really think there were more mysteries to solve here?" Eddie asked, glancing around the grounds.

There was almost a pull, and he knew Patricia felt it too, a need to know what was happening. Almost a sadness that the mysteries were no longer theirs to solve. As frightening and surreal as they had seemed at the time, looking back they could only remember the fun times.

"Definitely," Patricia laughed.

"They're not ready though, surely?" Eddie said uneasily.

"Neither were we," Patricia said, shaking her head as they began to make their way to the car. "We were a bunch of students, a mismatched group of people who should never have worked as friends, and there we were, saving everyone-"

"-thinking we could rule the world," Eddie finished. "And we did."

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><p><em>AN: Happy anniversary, sibunas! Four years man. Or at least, for most of you guys. For me it's technically not til Feb but I wanted to join in on the fun. This is probably awful, but I wanted to write something, anything, and I don't think 3k in 2 hours is too bad going. Yes I'm ignoring all outstanding writing duties, whoops, although my Secret Santas will be published SO soon, so it's all good, maybe. Anyway, I hope this was okay. The song lyric doesn't mean anything as such, the whole song just inspired me. My writing's a little rusty, sorry I've been gone so long, thanks for sticking with me. Spent half my time on this just coming up with the names. They all mean something. And I know Eugene and Eugene but I forgot when I first picked the name and then I couldn't go back on it. Promise I wasn't doing that thing where you name characters based on the cast. Okay, I'll shhh now. Thoth news soon. And it's big news. Sort of. That was cryptic. It's half 2 man, I need to sleep. FOUR YEARS. We're awesome, and I love every one of you, and this ridiculous, wonderful show. Thanks for reading _:)


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